Rangers manager Philippe Clement faced the media for the final time as Rangers manager after the loss to St Mirren on Saturday, February 22.
Here's every word he said.
How disappointing is that performance in the first home game since Queen's Park?
It's terribly disappointing because we were so nervous today on the ball and in the duels. I don't know where it's coming from. That's my frustration. It's my responsibility also to put a team with the right mindset on the pitch. I didn't see this coming, this nervousness. We were below par almost all game. By far not what Rangers should be today.
Do the players need to take more responsibility themselves?
It's everybody. In the first place me. We had a plan for this game. It was a good training week with good quality, and I didn't see that back today. I need to find out the reasons for that and to find solutions.
What did you feel seeing so many supporters leaving so early in the game?
I understand. We were by far the worst I've seen in all the time that I've been here. so i understand that fans don’t want to see that kind of level. It's about as a team standing up and showing more quality and finding out where this nervousness came from.
Did some of that (nervousness) come from the supporters?
There cannot be a reason because that's part of being a player here. That's part of working here. You know from before. No excuses. If you want to be a Rangers player, you need to cope with these things, and it's my job also to cope with those things.
Is there a concern for you that there seems to be a lack of leadership when you're up against it in games?
I missed that today. I saw the team drifting apart in islands. We also had difficult spells going behind in the past but reacted as a team. Today, it was reacting one-on-one and not as a team, and then we didn't play the football we needed to play. And then it's a bad performance, so yes, leadership is a collective one, and in the first place, it's my responsibility.
The fans that left early, the fans that booed your side off once again at Ibrox this season, do you still believe you can win them back?
There's only one way, with performances on the pitch. When I came into the building, the building was on fire, and there were still people who believed in that team at that moment. That team picked up things again by being collective and working hard together. In the end, it's always about performances on the pitch, and of course, you lose credit with evenings like this and from two weeks ago. That's normal. It's about reacting. In football and life, it's always like that. You get knocks. Today was a big knock because we didn't show our level as a team so it's now important to react and stand up.
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Do you understand, though, that you've lost the fanbase, and they don't want you to be here as a manager anymore?
Those are things the board need to decide. In the end, I believe these players want to do the right things. I believe I can get results with these players, but I'm also very disappointed with what we showed today, and I'm responsible for that.
Philippe, I appreciate you saying that, but this is not a surprising result. The football is sporadically good.
That's what Patrick (Stewart) also said. You have to look at the roots also. Today was by far the worst performance from my time here.
